Burnaby is the geographic centre of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. It's bordered by Vancouver to the west, Burrard Inlet to the north, New Westminster and Coquitlam to the east, and the Fraser River to the south.

Just 12 kilometers east of downtown Vancouver, Burnaby grew from farms and forests to Vancouver dormintory town to major regional centre in its own right. Today the city is a thriving residential area containing major commercial, industrial, and educational activities. Burnaby's geography is varied. It's dynamic urban development has occurred around two large fresh-water lakes, forested parkland and hills, rivers and streams, and Pacific shoreline along the Burrard Inlet. Burnaby also includes an agricultural district that produces market garden crops. One big advantage of Burnaby is its excellent road connections to the rest of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Both the Millenium and Expo lines of the SkyTrain rapid transit system run through it. SkyTrain links Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey and the south east corner of Coquitlam. Future plans include extending the Millenium line through Port Moody to Coquitlam Centre.

Burnaby supports three large malls, each keys to the regional urban town centers built up around them, Metropolis at Metrotown, Brentwood Centre and Lougheed Mall. Simon Fraser University and BCIT are both located in Burnaby. Burnaby has also developed into a high tech employment hot bed including Entertainment Arts, Telus, BC Hydro, PMC Sierra and many smaller but leading edge technology companies.